Hello friends! Today, I’m sharing a “twofer” post. First up, a cocktail called the Caliph of Baghdad. This recipe is from a 1933 book, Del Monte – Cocktail Recipes Mixed by Famous People for a Famous Hotel. I chose it because of its connection to this month’s Dining with The Dame book, They Came To Baghdad. This book was originally published in 1933 for the Del Monte Hotel but has been brought back into circulation by my old pal, Jenny of Silver Screen Suppers and Dinner and A Movie.
The Book
The book was inspired in 1933 around the same time as the the repeal of Prohibition.
“John Caitlin, the eccentric Mayor of Carmel-By-The-Sea in California, established the Association for the Advancement of the Fine Art of Drinking and invited the great and good of the stage, screen and typewriter to submit their concoctions for consideration”
Submissions were evaluated at the Del Monte Hotel in Monterey in December 1933, leading to the creation of the book.
Ernest Hemingway, Marlene Dietrich, W.C. Fields, and the Marx Brothers were but a few of the great and the good to submit recipes. I will definitely be featuring the Marlene Dietrich cocktail down the track, it sounds amazing!
The Hotel
The Hotel Del Monte still exists and it looks beautiful!!!! And, the rates are not exorbitant. I have never been to America, but my best friend lives in California so it is high on my list of places to go! I wonder if we could have a night or two in the Del Monte when I am there so we can pay homage to the Association for the Advancement of the Fine Art of Drinking!
The Caliph of Baghdad – The Drink
There is a warning that this drink packs a punch. And it certainly does! This is one that you want to sip slowly all night and / or add a lot of ice! Having said that, savouring one of these over a evening is quite pleasant because the sweet / sour of the brown sugar and the lime combined with the rum is delicious!
I can absolutely recommend the Del Monte Cocktail book! There are many delicious sounding cocktails from so many famous names! It is truly a little piece of history!
Hello friends, apologies for the long break between posts. My father passed away at the end of last month and getting regular posts out suddenly didn’t seem so important. However, I wanted to close out Witness for The Prosecution as planned. There is also a link, albeit tenuous between Witness for the Prosecution and my dad. So if there was ever going to be a right time to honour him, this was it. We’ll get there but for the moment, let’s focus on the Negroni Sbagliato.
Sbagliato…Say What?
In 1972, Milanese bartender Mauritio Stocchetto accidentally reached for prosecco instead of gin while creating a negroni, thus inventing the “sbagliato”. The word means “mistaken” in Italian – pronounced Spah-li-art-toe.. Bar Basso, the scene of this mishap is still open and of course, Negroni Sbagliato’s are still on the menu!
The main flavours in the drink are bitter from the Campari and sweet from the Vermouth. I think this fits well with the tone of the story.
Add the campari and vermouth to a mixing glass full of ice. Stir to chill.
Strain into your drinking glass.
Top with Prosecco.
Garnish with an orange twist
Witness for The Proscecution – The Film (Spoilers Galore)
ilmed in 1957, Witness for the Prosecution starred Tyrone Power as Leonard, Marlene Dietrich as his wife, and Charles Laughton as his lawyer.
The film’s ending dramatically differs from the book. In the book, Christine confesses she knew about the murder and lied to protect Leonard. The filmmakers, however, thought audiences in the 1950s wouldn’t accept a murderer going free. So, the film takes a darker turn: Christine kills Leonard upon learning he’ll leave her for another woman despite her sacrifice.
Some great advertising and images from the film, above. They certainly play up the suspense and the glamour couple of Power and Dietrich!
My Personal Link to Witness for the Prosecution
My father was named Tyrone, after Tyrone Power. We all think my nana must have had quite the crush on Tyrone Power! And, as you will see from the posters above, Tyrone Power was one of the stars of the 1957 version of Witness for the Prosecution.
Today would have been my dad’s 83rd birthday so it seemed like the right time to honour his passing. I don’t know when I will feel up to getting back to a regular posting schedule. I’m still finding it hard to wake up and not spend the first hour of my day crying. So my posts may be a bit erratic in the coming weeks. I’ll do what I can when I can. Starting with this one.
These are my two favourite photos of my dad, and, I know I am biased but I think, maybe my nana named him right because he was kind of movie star handsome when he was a young man! The first is him, maybe in his late teens or very early twenties. He was so proud to have been an excellent rugby player and even played for Sri Lanka, (then Ceylon) in a match against India. In this picture he is wearing one of his beloved team jerseys.
This next one is me and him on holiday. I can’t remember even remember where but it looks pretty cold! Incidentally, my name, Taryn is the feminine version of Tyrone and is also the name of one of Tyrone Power’s daughters.
My ask of you? If you decide to watch Witness for the Prosecution with a Negroni Sbagliatio in hand (and I really think you should do this) maybe raise a little toast to the lesser known Tyrone as well as the more famous.
Hello, cocktail lovers and Agatha Christie readers. While this post might not be our usual “Dining With The Dame” feature for March, fret not! Instead, consider it a literary aperitif, a tasty prelude to the main course. Today’s recipe is a cocktail called “Malice in The Hollow.” This concoction is a playful riff on Hedda Hopper’s recipe titled “Malice in Hollywood,” which I found in the fantastic book “Recipes for Rebels” by a friend of the blog, Greg Swenson. Greg, being the good sport he is, I’m sure won’t mind a little tampering with Hedda’s, original recipe! The Hollow, a 1946 novel by Agatha Christie is our current Dining With The Dame read.
Hedda Hopper and Agatha Christie
Hedda Hopper, an American gossip columnist and actress, was born in 1885. This makes her a contemporary of Agatha Christie, who was five years younger. Intrigued by a possible connection between the two, I began to research. Perhaps, I thought, Hedda had starred in a film adaptation of one of Christie’s acclaimed novels. Sadly, this was not the case.
However, the Wikipedia article for the 1965 version of “Ten Little Indians” (also known as “And Then There Were None”) cites an article by Hedda Hopper. This tantalizing detail sparked my curiosity. Did their paths ever cross beyond this single reference? Calling all Agatha Christie and Hedda Hopper superfans! If you have any information about a deeper connection between these two ladies, please share it!
Now, let’s shift gears. “Malice in Hollywood” is a fitting description for Hedda Hopper’s career. She wielded her pen with a vitriolic touch, becoming one of the most feared figures in Hollywood. Furthermore, her staunch conservative views fueled her column during the McCarthy era, where she relentlessly denounced those with leftist leanings.
Hedda Hopper
The Malice In Hollywood Cocktail
In Recipes for Rebels, Greg says that Hedda was said to have created the Malice in Hollywood Cocktail in the 1940’s. The OG recipe is below.
The Malice In The Hollow Cocktail
I am not fond of Bourbon so I have changed the ratios and added some lemon juice to balance out the sweetness of the Apricot Brandy.
Combine the bourbon, apricot brandy and lemon juice in a shaker
Shake over ice then strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with dried apricots and a twist of lemon
Next week’s post will be our Dining with The Dame for The Hollow, so there is still plenty of time to read it if you so desire!
Also, why not pop over to Amazon and buy a copy of Recipes For Rebels? It is a beautifully curated book of celebrity recipes which I am sure you will love!
“That’s great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane”…so begins the fabulous REM song, “It’s The End of The World As We Know It”. And for me, this year actually began with a 7.6 magnitude earthquake when we were holidaying in Darwin. Last month we celebrated my birthday in absolute chaos (more on that later) whilst on holiday in Port Douglas. And when I say chaos, I mean a total f*cking nightmare. So when the random number generator chose “Birthday Party, Cheesecake, Jelly Bean, Boom! I thought it might be a good chance to reset and have a little party to make up for the day that was ruined! The vehicle of choice for this month is Super Food Ideas, from September 2003 and I went in search of party food.
But first, let’s take a little wander down the memory lane to the heady days of September 2003. R Kelly’s Ignition (Remix) was #1. Less said about that the better I think. Finding Nemo was top of the box office and The Da Vinci Code was still the most popular book!
The Menu – September 2003
Margarita
Now, I can’t think of a much better way to kick of any birthday celebration than with a classic Margarita! And this one was perfection!!!!! I
The cocktail napkin you see in the above photo was one of a set of napkins I bought in Port Douglas. They are all super cute and also an inspiration to make the rest of the cocktails featured on them!
And as with the margarita, the first four days of our holiday were wonderful. Port Douglas is such an amazing place. Rainforest, reef and beach – great restaurants, perfect weather….the only downside is the crocodiles…and the murder birds!
Margarita Recipe
Seafood Pizza
As you may have noticed, I love my seafood! This nicely leads me to where our holiday turned paradise into a nightmare. Day 5 of our holiday, which was my actual birthday we had planned to move from our PD central apartment to a house around 10km out of Port Douglas. It was also the night of The Matildas v England final of the Women’s World Cup. We had been out for a lovely dinner the night before so the plan for my birthday was to grab a seafood platter from Port Douglas when we left and then enjoy the evening in our house. Dip in our private pool, , bit of football on the telly, champagne on ice, and our gourmet seafood platter…could life get any better?
Better? No. What we hadn’t figured was that it was about to get a whole lot worse!
We turned up at the house, for which we had a confirmed booking from one of the largest, if not the largest booking agencies in the world. The Fussiest Eater sends a text to the owner asking for the keypad number as the gate is locked. We are there for about 5 minutes when a woman comes out of the house. “Can I help you?” she asks. “Oh, yes, you probably just got our text. We’re here for our holiday”
Apparently we weren’t.
In the time that we had made our booking and our actual holiday, the house had been sold. It was no longer holiday accommodation.
It was now 3:00pm on a Saturday, we had no place to stay for the next four nights and we had a rapidly warming seafood platter on the back seat of the hire car.
Seafood Pizza Recipe
Party Pies
You know this is an Aussie Meat Pie because the secret ingredient is a spoonful of Vegemite! I made mini versions of this pie – in Australian we call these Party Pies so they were perfect for my Birthday Party Menu!
Now back to Port Douglas. The Fussiest Eater began calling the owner of the house. He confirmed that he had sold the house and had told the booking agency to cancel all future bookings. I started trying to find us accommodation. The first place I found wanted $15,000 for the four nights. The second $6000. Finally, we were able to find a studio room back in Port Douglas for the four nights for a price that we could actually afford. And that had a fridge in which we could put the seafood platter! From there we called the booking agency who offered to not only refund the cost of the house but also to pay for the emergency accommodation.
The following day we were also able to move into a one-bedroom apartment in the same complex which was a lot better than the studio but still how we had wanted to spend the last few days of our holiday.
As of today though, the booking company have yet to refund us the money for the second Port Douglas Apartment. We are idiots who did not get their OG offer in writing and they are now saying that as the second apartment was cheaper than the housetechnically we are not out of pocket.
Technically they ruined my birthday and did not deliver on the holiday we paid for and expected.
TechnicallyI could have chosen the house that cost $15000 instead of that studio apartment as our alternative accommodation and technically they would have had to refund us the difference.
I didn’t want to be an arsehole.
I’ll leave that up to them.
Meat Pie Recipe
Chewy Almond Crescents
We now turn to the sweet part of our birthday party menu. These were great! Really tasty and not overly sweet. You couldn’t really taste the apricot jam which was a shame. When I make these again, I will maybe add some chopped-up dried apricots into the mix. Or maybe add a glaze with the jam. They were delicious regardless. These would be great with a cup of tea or coffee or equally with a little glass of Baileys! This was probably my favourite thing on the menu. I also loved the butterfly cakes but they were similar to cakes I had made before. These were all new and I was so happy to discover them!
Accomodation saga continued….As of today though, the booking company have yet to refund us the money for the second Port Douglas Apartment. We are idiots who did not get their OG offer in writing and they are now saying that as the second apartment was cheaper than the housetechnically we are not out of pocket.
Technically they ruined my birthday and did not deliver on the holiday we paid for and expected.
TechnicallyI could have chosen the house that cost $15000 instead of that studio apartment as our alternative accommodation and technically they would have had to refund us the difference.
I didn’t want to be an arsehole.
I’ll leave that up to them.
Chewy Almond Crescents Recipe
Lemon Curd Butterfly Cakes
These were so pretty and also delish. I loved the tanginess of the lemon curd with the sweetness of the cupcake!
The one-bedroom apartment was great. However, on the first night, I was woken at around 2 a.m. by the sound of what sounded like a woman screaming. Channelling my inner Nancy Drew, I got out of bed and looked out the window but the side street the room looked out on was deserted. I was just getting back into bed when I heard it again. This time I went to the main room to look out of the front windows but the main street which we overlooked was also quiet. I went back to bed. I heard the same noise once again at around 5 a.m. This time I wondered if maybe someone in the neighbouring rooms was having an argument as again there was no movement on either street.
There was no mention of any attack on the news the following day so I went about my business. As we were walking back to the apartment from dinner I heard the same noise. This time though I was able to see that it was coming from a bird that we had just walked past. A quick Google Search identified these murder birds as Bush Stone Curlews. Thankfully no Nancy Drewing needed for me on the second night. Or thereafter.
Lemon Curd Butterfly Cakes Recipe
My Nigella Moment – Passionfruit Glazed Shortbread
For first-time readers, this refers to the moment at the end of Nigella Lawson’s cooking shows when she sneaks back to the fridge to have another bite of something delicious. In the context of these Twenty Years Ago posts, it is something contained in the magazine that does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in either because I made it and it was really good, or I just didn’t have time to make it but it was one of the most appetising things in the mag!
I love shortbread and passionfruit so these were high on my list of things to make. They would have also fit in nicely with my birthday party theme but I ran out of time and had to choose between the Almond Crescents and these. In the end, I have eaten Passionfruit Shortbreads before whilst the Almond Crescents were something new to me so I chose them. These though? High on my list of things to make! And believe me, when I do…I will definitely be popping back to the biscuit tin, Nigella Style, for just one more!
Super Food Ideas really came through for my birthday-themed menu! As did Port Douglas for my birthday holiday. Despite the…ahem…hiccup with the accomodation, PD remains one of my favourite holiday destinations!!!!
Hello crime readers and food lovers. Or in this case, cocktail lovers because we are celebrating Agatha Christie’s wartime thriller N or M with an Aperol Betty. N or M has few references to food. I wonder if Agatha Christie did this intentionally as food was rationed during the war. Reading about lots of food may have led to readers becoming disgruntled with their Mock Crab and other wartime foods. I found my inspiration from one of the characters in the novel Betty Sprott, who despite only being a little girl is key to two pivotal parts of the novel!
N or M -The Plot
It is 1940 and Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are disheartened because no one wants them for war work. Tommy is then approached by Mr Grant, the head of the secret service to hunt out some fifth columnists. Tommy is sent on a top-secret mission to Leahampton, to search out two Nazi agents, a male and a female, known only by their code names, N and M. Imagine his surprise then on his arrival at the Sans Souci guesthouse to see Tuppence there!
We have quite the cast of shady characters including
A landlady who may or may not be Irish
A German refugee chemist
A female resident of the Sans Souci who is watching Tuppence very closely
A mysterious Polish woman hanging about the Sanc Souci
Little Betty kidnapped
The kidnapper killed by a crack shot from Mrs Sprott
Someone hitting Tommy over the head with a hammer
Someone holding Tommy captive in their basement
Luckily we have Tommy and Tuppence on hand to figure out who is N and M and save Britain from the evils of Nazism via enemies from within. .
This is a thrilling tale that I feel really captures what life might have been like in England during 1940. I really enjoyed the depiction of “ordinary” life at this time – the talk of the war, everyone having their own theories or having heard “on good authority” what was happening at the front. The setting for this tale of espionage is perfect and Tommy and Tuppence are as adorable as ever!
N or M – The Covers
There are some fabulous covers here, lots of French ones, a Danish one and one that I think might be from Hungary.
The Recipe – Aperol Betty
The Aperol Betty is a very simple but very tasty cocktail with a strong citrussy taste. It was even easier for me because I didn’t even have to bother to combine the grapefruit and orange juices in the recipe. We have a tangelo tree (tangelo = tangerine x grapefruit) in our garden which is currently laden! (Also look how pretty that bright orange looks on a grey Melbourne winter day!!!!
But anyway, when life gives you this many tangelos, you don’t go buying grapefruit or orange juice! I walked to the garden and chose some lovely fresh fruit for my drink!
Here’s the recipe with the OG ingredients!
Betty had changed her mind and demanded instead:
“Wead me story.”
Tuppence pulled out a rather tattered book from one end of the cupboard – to be interrupted by a squeal from Betty.
“No, no. Narsty…Bad…”
Agatha Christie – N or M
As an alternative, for anyone who does not drink, the close runner up for this was a Pasta all N or Ma. I didn’t make this because I am somewhat allergic to aubergines / eggplants but if you were having an N or M themed dinner, for me, the pasta would be a good choice!
What does Agatha Christie have in with Leonard Dawe?
First, I hear you ask, who is Leonard Dawe?
Well. he was a crossword compiler for the Daily Telegraph who was investigated by MI5 in 1944 because he published the names of several of the D-Day Landing sites in his crosswords.
A few years earlier, Agatha Christie got into trouble over the name of one of the characters in N or M. One of the residents at Sans Souci is Major Bletchley. In the 1940s, Bletchley Park was the place where code breakers ultimately cracked the German enigma machine. Of course, neither Dame Agatha nor Leonard Dawe were acting in an untoward manner but they were both investigated by MI5 for their unfortunate choices! (I really hope that after they questioned her, Dame Agatha then grilled MI5 on their techniques for her next novel)
Links to The Christieverse
There are a few references to the earlier Tommy and Tuppence novel, The Secret Adversary.
Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in N or M
Whiskey
Tea
Bread and Cheese
As mentioned, last week, I am currently on holiday in beautiful Port Douglas. Part of my reading material for the trip is The Body In The Library which will be our September Dining with The Dame read. Marple fans, this one’s for you!
